Uganda is failing to protect homeless children against police abuse and other violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Street children throughout Uganda’s urban centers face violence, and physical and sexual abuse. National and local government officials should put an end to organized roundups of street children, hold police and others accountable for beatings, and provide improved access for these children to education and healthcare.

Greek officials should immediately transfer migrants from overcrowded and inhumane detention sites in the Evros region to an empty facility on Samos Island and protect the 120 unaccompanied migrant children among them. These migrants have crossed into Greece from Turkey in recent weeks and months and come from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Algeria, Syria, Iran, and Morocco.

Street Children

Uganda is failing to protect homeless children against police abuse and other violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Street children throughout Uganda’s urban centers face violence, and physical and sexual abuse. National and local government officials should put an end to organized roundups of street children, hold police and others accountable for beatings, and provide improved access for these children to education and healthcare.

After years of seemingly never-ending conflict and repression, Myanmar's neighbours and the world are watching the changes there with interest and cautious optimism. And for the 140,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand, many stuck in camps on the border for decades, there is now some hope that they might be able to go home.

Greek officials should immediately transfer migrants from overcrowded and inhumane detention sites in the Evros region to an empty facility on Samos Island and protect the 120 unaccompanied migrant children among them. These migrants have crossed into Greece from Turkey in recent weeks and months and come from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Algeria, Syria, Iran, and Morocco.

The arrest and conviction of seven Quranic teachers who forced boys trusted to their care to beg is a significant move forward for children’s rights in Senegal. The men were sentenced on September 8, 2010, marking the first application of a 2005 law outlawing the practice; two more men are scheduled to face the same charges on September 9.

Tens of thousands of children at residential Quranic schools in Senegal are subjected to slavery-like conditions and severely abused. Senegalese authorities should regulate all Quranic schools and take immediate and concerted action to hold accountable teachers who violate Senegalese laws against forced begging and child abuse.

In this submission to the committee, Human Rights Watch presents information on child soldiers, children in detention, sexual violence against girls, and abuses against street children in the Democratic Republic of Congo.